Chapter Three
Putting Differences Aside
Sarah ran quickly over the pedestrian footbridge that crossed the river and skirted a couple of motionless cars. People were wandering about looking lost and confused, pointing up at the sky and talking in loud, agitated voices. As Sarah jogged away from the bridge and towards the intersection at the end of the street, she glanced up at the overcast sky, shielding her eyes against the bitter wind. The clouds had stopped swirling, but they were still an ominous shade of charcoal grey. The lightning had come down somewhere in this area, and the explosion they had heard had seemed to come from this part of town, too. There was a crowd of people at the intersection; she estimated that the storm had been right over this spot. Sticking her hands into her pockets, she walked briskly towards the group, making sure to check the café windows she passed for signs of her colleagues. She couldn't see anybody she knew.
She passed a blackened car, and heard a snatched conversation about a failed attempt to repair the vehicle. Parts of the car were still on fire, but it didn't look like anyone had been hurt. She deduced that the car had probably exploded. That was what she and Claire had heard from their kitchen. So far, so good, she thought. It looked like they would come through the storm unscathed.
When she reached the intersection, she heard a couple of people talking about a hole in the ground. Several people were still complaining about their cars, and a few were calling out for their friends and family. She approached the crowd and tried to see over the shoulder of the man in front, but he was too tall.
"What's going on?" she asked, stepping closer and peering though the throng. The man turned his head, and she caught a glimpse of dull green eyes, brown hair, and a handsome profile. She leaned back, recognising him immediately. It was Ray Ferrier.
"Ms. Freidman," he said, looking slightly taken aback. She opened her mouth to correct him, before realising with a slight pang of disappointment that he had used the correct title. I wouldn't have expected him to remember, she thought, taking her hands out of her pockets and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. It was a nervous habit she had.
"Ray," she replied flatly, not smiling. "Do you know what's happening?"
"No, I don't," he said, looking back at the crowd. A second later he moved forward, apologising under his breath as he pushed past the people. Sarah followed him, her eyes trained on the spot everyone seemed to be looking at. She moved past the last person and saw a flat space of concrete with a fairly large hole in it. The edges of the hole were smoking, and it looked deep. She heard a low murmur of puzzled conversation all around. A police officer was standing opposite her, on the other side of the circle. He bent down to look closely at the rocks, and Ray did the same. Sarah folded her arms and watched, frowning in confusion as the officer shook his head.
"I can't explain it," he said, lifting his face and squinting up at the sky. "It's like something went down there."
"The lightning," Sarah said. "The lightning made the hole."
"Then why are the rocks freezing?" came Ray's voice. She crouched down next to him, and a couple of other people bent over to get a closer look. Ray was holding a fragment of concrete in one hand. After a second or two he dropped it, obviously unable to hold it any longer due to its temperature.
Sarah's thoughts whirled. How could a spot that had just been hit by lightning be cold? The officer had been right - it was inexplicable.
It wasn't long before they all heard a rumbling noise coming from deep below them. Sarah stared down at the road in nervous apprehension, and a few people took steps back. It was the subway, she thought. It was just a train. But the officer put an end to that possibility straight away. There was no subway here, he said. There were no pipes, either. Apparently there was nothing there that could be causing the noise. Sarah was forced to conclude that something had indeed gone down there during the storm. Or perhaps there had been something down there all along that nobody knew about. What was it, though?
Ray stood up and put out a hand. Sarah looked down, surprised to see that he was holding onto her arm.
"You feel that?" he said, his voice almost a whisper.
After a moment she felt it. A slight shaking sensation that grew steadily as the seconds passed. It was like the beginning of an earthquake. The concrete beneath their feet began to crack, and Sarah leaped backwards, Ray stumbling after her. People began to run as the road split open, fractures appearing in the rock in the same way that the ice on a frozen lake would break if it was stepped on. The concrete was thrust onto the road's surface, and something huge began to push up from under the ground. Sarah backed away as fast as she could manage, still keeping her eyes trained on the hole.
Then the buildings began to collapse. Sarah's head whirled this way and that, and she soon realised she had lost sight of Ray. People were running to and fro, shouting, yelling and screaming. Cracks were appearing in the church across the street. The whole side of the building broke off, and the bell tower crashed down onto the intersection, crushing a couple of people who hadn't managed to get out of the way. Sarah's legs gave way due to the shock, and she put out two hands to steady herself. Crouching there on the concrete, she got her first look at the object that was coming out of the ground.
It was tall; that much was obvious. At first she thought it was twenty feet, but as it straightened up it became clear that it was closer to fifty. It had three legs on which it walked; it was a kind of tripod. It was like some sort of living creature, although it was made from metal and had lights on its body. It was a truly terrifying sight, but the worst was yet to come. Sarah began to struggle to her feet, to try and get away from the machine, but her progress was hampered by the continuous collapse of the concrete and buildings around her. She stumbled, looked up, and saw a beam of pinkish light sweep past her. Her eyes followed it, and she saw it strike a man. The man was instantly vaporised. Sarah screamed.
"Come on!" came a voice in her ear, and she turned to see Ray pulling at her jacket. She screamed again, her vision filled with the image of the man turning to dust, but somehow she managed to move her legs, and she sprinted after Ray in the direction of the footbridge.
Sarah took lightning-quick glances behind her as she ran. She saw that the tripod was moving off to the east, killing as it went. Her breath was coming in fast gulps as she followed Ray over the bridge and into their street. She did not bother to ask him if he was all right, or thank him for grabbing her when the tripod had started vaporising everything in sight; she simply ran past him to her house, wrenched open the door, slammed it behind her, and collapsed.
Claire's head darted up at the sound of the door opening. She jumped off the couch and ventured into the hallway, where she saw her mother sitting on the carpet, leaning heavily against the wall. Sarah was covered in a fine, white dust. Claire crouched down tentatively next to her, wondering what had happened. Her mom had been gone around twenty minutes. In that time, Claire had heard the sounds of mass destruction and screaming from across the river. She had huddled into a ball on the couch, fiddling with the dials on the radio. She had not been able to get any signal.
"Mom?"
Sarah blinked and looked up. Her eyes widened, and she pulled Claire into a fierce hug.
"Claire, are you all right? Did anything - has anything --"
She broke off, releasing her daughter. Her eyes searched Claire's face intensely.
"I'm fine, mom," Claire said shakily. "But what happened to you?"
Sarah's gaze took on a distant quality. She seemed to be reliving something. Going by the expression on her mother's face, Claire assumed it was something unpleasant. Sarah did not speak for a moment or two, and Claire was left to wonder what had happened over on the other side of the river. Had there been bombs? The explosion had given that impression, but Claire hadn't heard any more blasts; just odd metallic noises, the sounds of large-scale destruction, and a lot of yelling. Maybe there had been an earthquake.
"No, nothing," Sarah said heavily, getting to her feet. "Nothing, honey. I'll tell you... I'll tell you later. Right now we have to leave, okay?"
"Leave?" Claire repeated, her brows knotted in confusion.
"Get a bag, all right? Get some clothes, some food from the refrigerator --"
"Mom," Claire said, her voice growing louder, more high-pitched. "Tell me what's going on!"
But Sarah wasn't listening. She was pulling things out of the cupboards with one hand, and brushing the dust out of her hair with the other. She looked scared, frantic. A heavy feeling of dread had settled in Claire's stomach, but she complied with her mother, grabbing packets of cookies and chips off the shelves and stuffing them into bags.
"Mom," she said suddenly, her arms full of supplies. "There are no cars. The cars aren't working. How are we going to carry all this stuff?"
Sarah paused, her hand halfway to the refrigerator handle. She let out a frustrated breath and grabbed a large plastic bag, holding it open. "Okay, quick. Put it all in here. We'll... we'll put another couple of bags around it. It should hold."
Claire emptied the supplies into the bag, then took it from Sarah and dropped it into a second bag. She slung it over her shoulder and grabbed her jacket. Meanwhile, Sarah was rooting around in a drawer in the sitting room. She brought out a flashlight and a couple of batteries, then stopped, looking down at them in disgust. She then turned and threw them across the room. The action made Claire jump.
"Mom?" she said, her eyes wide.
"Batteries aren't working," Sarah muttered, sounding slightly apologetic.
Suddenly there was a very loud noise somewhere nearby. Claire thought it sounded like a ship's horn, except longer, deeper, and somehow more ominous. Sarah dropped down to the carpet and signalled for Claire to do the same. A rose-coloured light swept past the sitting room window, and as it hit the house opposite them the brickwork exploded outwards, sending rubble flying in all directions. Claire was on the kitchen floor - she could see everything that was happening out on the road. She saw the light sweep towards the sitting room window, and screamed. Sarah managed to roll out of the way just as the front wall of the house collapsed. She scrambled to her feet, grabbed Claire by the arm, and sprinted out into the back yard. They backed away to the end of the lawn, watching their house fall into ruins. Claire lifted her gaze slowly, and was faced with the most extraordinary sight she had ever experienced. Standing over the street, on three legs, was a gigantic machine. It had an odd-shaped body. It looked like something from outer space. After a second or two the machine swivelled towards them and shot a red ray at the bridge, sending cars and lorries into the river. At that moment, there was no doubt in Claire's mind that these things were from outer space.
She did not have time to think. A car hurtled past them and destroyed what was left of their house. Claire felt Sarah grab her arm. The two of them ran over the footbridge and off down the street. They took care to avoid the tripods, hurtling down back alleys and side roads where possible. All the while, Claire was taking fleeting glances upwards. The machines moved above them, their pinkish beams sweeping through the city without hindrance.
As they ran, Claire felt tears seep from her eyes and run down her face. Her hands were clenched into fists, and she was shaking violently. She was running like she'd never run before. Why couldn't she run like this in the school marathons? The thought was fleeting, and the tears came faster as she realised that her school had probably been decimated.
"Mom," she choked as they reached the highway. "Where are we going to go?"
Sarah looked back at her daughter. She had smudges of dirt on her cheeks. "North," she said. "Away from the city."
Author's Note: Just wanted to say thank you to Madam Marvel for the review!
